The Dissection Department's Work Ethic

Zhao Yifeng asked calmly:

"Have you completed the background check? What's his mental strength? What position is he assigned to?"

The man with glasses replied:

"We've done a thorough background check. He's a local, and his highest mental strength reading is only 18—just a little stronger than an ordinary person, barely passing. As for his position, he's been assigned to the Dissection Department."

After a pause, the man with glasses continued:

"The funniest part is that he even wrote a resignation letter and put it in the bureau chief's mailbox. Its contents were scanned right away. He complained about the bureau's rules, but after his parents left, he secretly took the letter back. I guess they lectured him."

Zhao Yifeng nodded.

"With mental strength that weak, he's been assigned to the Dissection Department. He's just an ordinary person. There's no need to waste time on him."

Mental strength never lied.

Footsteps sounded as the woman in the trench coat returned to the stage. She asked quietly:

"Chief, are you sure you don't want me to conduct a mass lie-detection test? There are definitely still some who slipped through."

Zhao Yifeng shook his head and looked at the now-empty assembly hall.

"No need to test the minnows. We can't detect the big fish anyway. The Anomaly Bureau was established to deal with anomalous incidents. Whoever joins, as long as they can contribute, that's enough. Of course, if they try anything else, the Disciplinary Division isn't just for show..."

The man with glasses and the woman in the trench coat exchanged glances. Thinking of the chief's true abilities, they nodded slightly.

"Send the spies we just caught into long sleep. Don't forget to get the paperwork approved. These monsters dared to show themselves, so they may have heard something. We need to push that matter forward as soon as possible."

"Yes!"

That night, Fuxiang Hotel, not far from the Anomaly Bureau's headquarters, was bustling with noise and activity.

As the second-best hotel on the street, it had been booked out for the night by agents from the Anomaly Bureau Southwest Branch.

More precisely, it had been booked out by the various departments of the Support Center.

Each private room was generally occupied by one department, all holding welcome banquets for their new hires.

Of course, the front-line Investigation Department and the Political Work Department had no interest in coming here. They were holding their welcome banquets at the best hotel, Red Star International Hotel.

In a private room tucked away in a corner of Fuxiang Hotel's first floor, Li Fan was drinking and laughing with more than a dozen agents from the Support Center's Dissection Department.

To his surprise, although the Dissection Department was low in status, he'd been given the seat of honor at tonight's banquet.

The department head, Wu Qian, was a plain-looking, middle-aged man with a side part. He sat at the head of the table. The deputy department head, Liu Dalong, was a hulking man with muscles like a butcher's, seated beside him as the second host.

Wu Qian raised his glass and smiled as he clinked it against Li Fan's.

"Xiao Li, welcome to the Dissection Department! You're the first fresh face we've had in more than two years. The last time we welcomed someone was two years ago, when Xiao Ke joined us."

Xiao Ke's full name was Ke Ke. She was a petite, bespectacled young woman with delicate features, sitting right beside Li Fan.

Wu Qian continued, "Let me introduce everyone. This is Deputy Department Head Liu Dalong, this is Brother Zhang Hongbing, Brother Ma Lihua, Sun Da, Hu Zhengqi, Yu Li, Sun Guodong..."

Those introduced immediately smiled and greeted Li Fan, and he returned their greetings.

Once the introductions were over, Li Fan's old knack for socializing from his previous life came back to him. He tapped his glass against the side of Wu Qian's and said with a smile:

"Thank you, Department Head. I was a little nervous at first, but I never expected to meet a leader as kind and considerate of his subordinates as you, Department Head Wu. I can already tell my future here will be bright."

Wu Qian patted Li Fan on the shoulder and laughed to the others. "If Xiao Li says that, then I have to drink!"

With that, he drained his glass.

"Department Head Wu, Deputy Department Head Liu, and all the seniors here, let me toast you too. I'm new here and don't know anything yet, so I'll be counting on all of you to guide and look after me."

Li Fan filled a glass with baijiu, stood up, and offered a respectful toast before draining it.

His humble gesture immediately won over his colleagues. Everyone raised their glasses and drank heartily.

Li Fan then asked:

"Department Head Wu, what exactly does our Dissection Department do? Is the work pretty demanding?"

Wu Qian smiled.

"You've probably heard about it. As the name suggests, our main job is dissecting anomalous infected entities and collecting data on their mutations. Just come in at three tomorrow afternoon. I'll have Old Zhang show you the ropes. He'll be your mentor."

Li Fan was taken aback, touched despite himself. The department head was giving him half a day off. He was pretty considerate.

He immediately said, "It's all right, Department Head. I can start at eight thirty as usual."

At that, Deputy Department Head Liu Dalong burst into laughter, and the other people in the Dissection Department joined in.

Liu Dalong laughed so hard he was out of breath. "If you show up at eight thirty in the morning, you probably won't see a soul. Our regular work hours are three to five in the afternoon. If you come in early, you won't find anyone."

Li Fan was even more bewildered. What was going on?

Two hours of work a day? Retiring early?

Wasn't the Dissection Department supposed to be incredibly busy and demanding?

Zhang Hongbing seemed to read Li Fan's confusion. He grinned and said:

"Fan, I know you may have heard all sorts of rumors about our department out there, about how grueling the work is and how we're busy as hell every day. We're all family now, so I won't hide it from you. That's all Department Head Wu's... Well, it's a rumor we spread ourselves! That's just how it is in government offices. Doing more matters less than saying more. Even if you're totally free, you have to go around saying you're swamped, or people will talk."

After Zhang Hongbing explained, Li Fan finally understood. The Dissection Department's job was to dissect anomalous infected entities.

By the time these infected entities were sent to the Dissection Department, the Investigation Department and Research Department had generally studied them inside and out, and cleared away things like negative contamination.

All the Dissection Department had to do was dissect them, file the records, and put them in the morgue. Sometimes they preserved them in formaldehyde, too.

Once they'd been dissected and stored, no one would bother with them again.

So there was no rush at all.

On top of that, the Investigation Department tended to be heavy-handed, while the Research Department was greedy. Many anomalous infected entities never even made it to the Dissection Department, having already been snapped up by the agencies above them.

Sometimes there was so little work that the Dissection Department might not receive a single anomalous infected entity for ten days or even half a month.

So everyone in the Dissection Department had plenty of free time.

Though the pay wasn't very high.

Seeing Wu Qian sitting there with a faint smile, looking completely unruffled, Li Fan hurriedly said:

"Department Head Wu, honestly, joining this department really feels like coming home! I'm so happy! Let me toast everyone again!"

He'd been thinking about quitting, but now he suddenly felt right at home.

It was so comfortable.

Wasn't this exactly the kind of work environment he'd wanted?

He could slowly coast in this department until retirement, while the Cleaning Association gradually forgot that the Collector existed. Then the head of the Cleaning Association wouldn't have to worry about him becoming too powerful and threatening his position.

After all, Li Fan was still only a trainee investigator. It would take at least a year just to become an assistant investigator.

How wonderful!

It was like someone had handed him a pillow just as he was nodding off!

Li Fan immediately downed three large glasses in a row.

What surprised him was how much alcohol his new body could handle. He'd drunk so much, yet didn't feel the slightest bit drunk.

The atmosphere at the table gradually reached its peak. Everyone drank glass after glass, downing them in one go amid the lively chatter, and soon they were all thoroughly tipsy.

Wu Qian was already quite drunk. When Li Fan came over to toast him again, he put on a solemn expression, holding his glass in one hand and Li Fan's hand in the other.

"Xiao Li, I want you to remember one thing. The most important question I think about every day is how not to work and how to keep slacking off for thirty years. I've never been chewed out by a superior, nor have I ever been challenged by my colleagues. The key is to find the perfect balance, do as little work as possible, and still make sure you come out unscathed. That's my work ethic, and it's our department's too. I hope you'll take it to heart."

Hearing his leader's heartfelt words, Li Fan felt a warmth rise in his chest. His eyes even grew slightly moist.

This was the first time they'd met, and Wu Qian was already speaking from the heart!

In his previous life, he'd dealt with plenty of officials and business owners, and he knew all too well that sincere people like Wu Qian were few and far between.

Besides, after everything that had happened today that was beyond his imagination, he'd finally relaxed in this atmosphere.

He said emotionally:

"Don't worry, Department Head Wu. I won't let you down. I'll carry on our department's work ethic!"

After making another round of toasts, Li Fan's tongue finally started to feel thick. His phone suddenly rang.

The caller ID showed an unknown number.

Li Fan picked up his phone and, swaying a little, stepped out of the private room and answered.

"...Hiss...static...screee—static..."

First came a stretch of eerie white noise. After a while, a hoarse voice suddenly spoke:

"...You did well...static...you avoided the Anomaly Bureau's trap...static...the Cuckoo Project will continue...static...await further instructions..."